Sarah McLachlan Biography

Last updated: 07/14/2012 11:00:00 AM

Born on January 28th, 1968, Sarah McLachlan has reached a level of artistic maturity that most artists take years to attain. Since releasing Touch in the late 1980s, the Halifax, Nova Scotia native has explored her own unique musical interests, indifferent to current trends and fads. McLachlan's intimate vocals and moody, evocative songs convey a passionate honesty rarely found in most of today's music.

McLachlan studied classical guitar, piano and voice as a child, and at the age of 17 was discovered by Nettwerk Records at her first performance as part of a New Wave band. Reluctant parents kept McLachlan from signing her first record deal for two years. After relocating to Vancouver, McLachlan began writing music for her first album, Touch. The album went gold in Canada and McLachlan was suddenly rocketed to stardom and hailed as that year's most exciting and important new artist.

After an extensive tour with her first band, McLachlan returned to the studio to record Solace, which was released in 1992. Solace succeeded both critically and commercially and catapulted McLachlan to international prominence.

The release of Solace was followed by an exhaustive 16-month tour after which McLachlan returned to Vancouver to begin writing songs for her album, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.

The hit single from that album, "Hold On," was inspired by the documentary, A Promise Kept, about a woman whose fiance discovers he has AIDS. Overwhelmed by the woman's strength and selflessness, McLachlan wrote the song in a single day. It is an unsentimental portrait of a woman's courage in the face of adversity. "Hold On" appeared on the No Alternative compilation album, the proceeds of which go to support AIDS research. McLachlan also contributed the single "I Will Remember You" to the soundtrack of the Brothers McMullen.

In 1997 McLachlan released her fourth album, Surfacing, which contained the hits "Building a Mystery" and "Sweet Surrender." She also took time out to organize and headline the acclaimed Lilith Fair, which focused on emerging women singer-songwriters and became the most successful tour of the summer of 1997.

McLachlan spent the summer of '98 back on the road with the second Lilith Fair tour. In June 1999 she released Mirrorball, a live album culling material from Lilith. Mirroball received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Album.

After six years, in which she lost her mother to cancer and gave birth to her daughter, India, Sarah McLachlan came back to the spotlight with 2003's "Afterglow." This Grammy-nominated album included the hits "Fallen," "Stupid," and "World on Fire."

2004 saw the release of "Afterglow Live," a DVD/CD concert of McLachlan on tour promoting the "Afterglow" album in 2004. Se toured again in 2005, and later that year released another remix album, "Bloom."

In early 2006, McLachlan handwrote a letter (copies of which were sent to members of her fan club) stating that she would be working on a Christmas album. The result was the Grammy-nominated "Wintersong," a classic Christmas album featuring remakes of John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" and Joni Mitchell's "River." Also included was the title track of the album, "Wintersong," the only song McLachlan wrote for the album, in dedication to her mother (who passed away from Cancer near Christmas time a few years ago.)

Alongside promoting "Wintersong" (which peaked at #7 on Billboard), McLachlan performed the song "Ordinary Miracle" for the hit movie, "Charlotte's Web." Sarah was in the spotlight once more, with rumours that "Ordinary Miracle" would earn her a Oscar nomination. The nominees will be announced on January 23, 2007.

Currently, McLachlan was working on her next album, which she hopes to have out sometime in 2008. This album will be all new material, since McLachlan's hasn't put out an entire album of new songs since 2003's "Aferglow." Sarah stated in an interview with Billboard that she has already written one song, and once the new year starts, she'll concentrate more on the album.

Thanks to Eric for submitting the biography.

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